In an ideal world, Arteta would no doubt have loved to sweep City away at the Etihad Stadium, beating his old mentor with a fluid passing game. But this was not an ideal world. Not only because of Trossard’s sending off, but also because Arsenal arrived in Manchester without Martin Odegaard, their most important player and playmaker who dictates their entire game.
At this point, City fans will likely point out that Kevin De Bruyne was missing for the hosts. The difference is that De Bruyne’s replacement is Ilkay Gundogan, while Odegaard’s stand-in is 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri. Gundogan has the same number of trophies on his resume as Nwaneri has first-team minutes.
As the debate raged over the last 24 hours, Arsenal fans were understandably quick to point out that for years their team had been accused of being too soft on such occasions. Now they are being vilified for being too mean. These fans, and certainly Arteta himself, would rather play a bad draw than a beautiful defeat.
The “dark arts” are no stranger to the city
The City players’ moaning is particularly hard to take because it gives the impression that Guardiola’s side consider themselves the high priests of everything that is right in sport. Which, frankly, is a ridiculous notion. Yes, City play fabulous attacking football, but they are as sly and cynical as any other team in the league.
Those who accuse Arsenal of being masters of the “dark arts” ignore City’s excellence in this area. For example, one of the key factors in their success under Guardiola was their ability to commit tactical fouls. In 2019, Rodri said he had learned “tactical fouling” under Guardiola’s leadership.
This is not a criticism of City for such antics. All top teams are at it all the time. It is simply the nature of modern top-flight football. Indeed, Arsenal have been on the receiving end of this particular style before and will be again at various points this season. Last December, Arteta’s side lost 2-0 at home to West Ham United against a team that had only 26 per cent possession.
West Ham’s manager that day was David Moyes, who always saw beauty in those spirited back lines. Speaking as a pundit for BeIn Sports on Sunday, Moyes described Arsenal’s performance as a “brilliant, brilliant defensive effort”. Moyes, not to be forgotten, was Arteta’s manager at Everton for six years.
From Arsenal’s perspective, the City players’ complaints will be seen as proof that they really got on their opponents’ nerves. This was evident at the final whistle when a furious Erling Haaland told Arteta to “stay humble” and then called Gabriel Jesus a “f***ing clown”.
